


A Piece of Genius

by Ayantiel



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Gen, Philosophy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-24
Updated: 2010-10-24
Packaged: 2017-11-02 20:04:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/372861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayantiel/pseuds/Ayantiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morgan isn't sure whether or not he likes Reid working on his philosophy degree. Hotch doesn't seem to mind though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Piece of Genius

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when you let your mind wander when reading a text for epistemology class.

Reid stretched languidly, enjoying the soft pop from his shoulders.  
He had just finished his paperwork for the day and that always had a meditating effect on him. But today he felt especially calm for some reason.

Maybe it was the fact that there hadn't been a bad case in a while.  
The last case they'd been on had been about as good as they were ever gonna get and the whole team had enjoyed the rare but greatly welcomed feeling.

Some of them, like Morgan had taken up an old hobby, like judo. Reid on the other hand had spend the extra time to work on his philosophy degree.  
He was working on a paper in the field of hermeneutics and right now felt like the right time to get back to it.

Reid got himself another cup of coffee before reaching into his bag for a text from Jean Grondin and started reading.  
He read a bit slower than his usual pace to ensure he caught every possible interpretation of every sentence, since that was what hermeneutics was all about; interpretation.

A few minutes into his reading, Reid suddenly snorted at a passage in the text, causing Morgan to look up.

"What's so funny, pretty boy?" He asked.

Reid smiled, inwardly laughing already. This was a rare opportunity to mess with Morgan's head and he was not about to let that slip.  
Morgan wasn't exactly the type to be interested in anything philosophical, unless it could help them catch an unsub.  
But even then, he would usually leave it to someone like Reid to tell the team what they needed to know.

"You won't understand." Reid said, still smiling.

Morgan lifted his eyebrows in enquiry. It was out of character for Reid to flaunt his intelligence, so there must be something else to it, Morgan thought.

"Try me"

Reid's smile widened as if he knew Morgan would react that way, leaving Morgan slightly apprehensive.

"It's a piece of genius," he said, as if that explained everything.

Morgan frowned. "You think the work of a serial killer is a work of genius?"

Reid looked confused for a moment. "What? No! I... This isn't a case file, it's a philosophical text."

"Oh."

Silence...

"So?"

"Hmmm?"

"You gonna try and explain that piece of genius, genius?" Morgan grinned at the BAU's residential boy wonder.

Reid nodded.

"I was reading a text of Jean Grondin, when I came across this passage." Reid motioned toward the pieces of paper he held in his hand. He cleared his throat and started to recite.

_"How can one understand a piece of genius without misunderstanding it in a chronic way? -...- One understands an utterance when one can bring it back to something which is already familiar. Consequently, understanding is condemned to miss the originality that constitutes any work of genius. This is perhaps why geniuses are never properly understood in their own time. In a sense, this is tragic. For if one claims to understand geniality, one reduces it to something which is already familiar and common and therefore misunderstands it. -...- Confronted with originality and far-reaching geniality, the basis of hermeneutics has to be that one doesn't understand."_

Morgan looked at him expectantly, but when Reid met his gaze with a look of expectation of his own, Morgan lifted a confused eyebrow.

"That's it?"

Reid nodded.

"Alright, you got me. What's so funny about it?"

Reid chuckled. "You don't get it"

"Yeah I admitted that just now, so explain it to me."

Reid was grinning like a Cheshire cat when he said, "You don't understand."

Morgan was about to make snappy comment when Hotch walked by and cut into the conversation.

"Morgan, you not getting it is what is funny."

Reid looked up in pleasant surprise and Morgan looked at his boss baffled.

"You got that?"

"No, I don't. I can't, even. If I did, I would misunderstand." Hotch replied in all seriousness, though a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.  
Reid was looking entirely too pleased with himself (and Hotch), in Morgan's opinion.

"Can someone please explain what's going on here?" he all but wailed.

Reid couldn't contain his laughter and Hotch actually openly smiled.  
Morgan guessed he could forgive Reid for mindfucking with him if it caused Hotch to smile...

_~The End_


End file.
